“I guess when you wake up again, we’ll talk and I’ll see if I can get one more day out of the visiting surgeon.”
And try to come up with some story for their combined absence. That was going to be fun. It was her last thought as sleep overtook her.
***
Bram turned over and felt fur. His gaze snapped open as he turned his head and found a huge head laying on his outstretched arm. She stretched from his arm over the length of the bed, easily five feet long with the tail. He took a steadying breath. Okay, so it hadn’t been a dream. Her paw was still stretched out over his hand, lying in it trustingly.
What she had shown him finally hit home. Her secret. She was a wolf. Her beauty had haunted him, her eyes had always been in his memory, and now, he held her as she slept. He smiled when her paw twitched. Did she dream of chases or of kisses? He felt a warmth flow through him as he held her, felt a sigh leave her chest as he settled back down next to her. It was a contented sound. His heart beat a steady rhythm as the ramifications of what he was thinking sank in. Not just yet, he warned. Some questions still needed to be answered.
He lifted his free hand staring at his watch. God was it late. He blinked out the window but could see only stars. He’d basically put his life on hold to be there for her. Neither of them had been at the hospital in days. Tongues would soon be gossiping if they weren’t already. He wondered if she had thought about it. Technically she wasn’t due back for another day, though he knew she wasn’t up to it. Not yet.
He considered the woman he held in his arms. An absolutely amazing creature of life, and from what he could gather, he was her mate. But how did that work, exactly? Were his growing feelings a part of the whole mystical soup?
She must have sensed his unease because he felt a wet tongue swipe his arm, a touch of comfort.
“Am I that obvious?” he asked tenderly. “Are you laughing at me?” He was shocked when what he heard sounded very much like laughter a moment later. “Okay, you.” He ran a finger over ribs and felt her squirm. “You better change back. We need to talk.”
He held his breath as she shimmered in his hold. He felt a brush of something, like a cobweb in a breeze or butterfly wings for just a split second as she changed shapes. It was an odd feeling. Not quite uncomfortable, but something he was sure he wasn’t supposed to know either. He relaxed when she let out a sigh. “Did it hurt this time?”
“Only as much as I expected it to,” she answered. Her hand had clenched his, her hold strong until the pain began to subside.
“I didn’t want you to hurt,” he said as he kissed her shoulder.
“It was a new experience for the both of us. I’ve never changed with holes in my body that didn’t belong there.”
“Tacky, sweetheart,” he said.
“Sorry.” But he heard her smile and knew she wasn’t, then her breath caught. “Sweetheart?” she whispered.
“I think I have the right to call you anything I want to now,” he said as he nipped at her shoulder and felt her shiver in his hold. His body’s response was quick, urgent and very obvious. Belatedly he realized she was naked, which he had forgotten when he’d asked her to change back.
“Selene,” his voice was hoarse. “I need to get up.”
“I understand.” Her gaze was shuttered as she rolled onto her back. She pulled the sheet up further to cover her nakedness from him.
“Would you quit saying that?” He slipped away from her, intending to get to his feet but her next words stopped him.
“Bram, I want you too. I’ve fought it since day one. And not just since the day you came out here. I’m talking six years of wanting.”
“This is so fast, I feel like I’m on a roller coaster with you.” He couldn’t stop his eyes from feasting on her supple form, waiting for him.
“Does it change the way you feel about me? Did yesterday change it?” she asked and he heard the fearful tremor in her words.
He stretched back out with her pulling her close uncaring of anything but the frightened heart within the strongest woman he knew. “No, yesterday didn’t change it. What you shared made you more incredible for me. More beautiful.” His hand shook a little as he brushed her hair back, digging for the words. “I’ve been trying to remember for weeks. Your eyes brought the memory so close, but to find it, I would’ve had to admit to what I finally saw last night. I could remember that first night, when you were hiding in the trees and you found me. Your eyes,” he stared into her gray depths. “They’ve been with me for years.”
He buried his nose in her hair, inhaling the sweet and wild fragrance that was hers. “But Selene, you’ve shocked and scared years out of my life. Let me work this out at my pace.”
She pressed herself into him. “Thank you for being honest Bram. That’s all I can ask.”
He held on for just a second longer before he did what his body had been craving for weeks. It was with a great amount of mental effort that he did pull away. “You better dress, if you can. I’ll go make us something to drink.”
“All right.”
He took one last long look at her body stretched out on the bed and wondered if he’d suddenly gone insane as he walked away.
A few minutes later, she joined him, with a slow hobble, in the kitchen where he’d put a kettle on to boil.
“Sorry, I don’t do coffee very well. I have good tea though,” she offered as she pulled down two mugs.
“Tea is fine.” He was leaning back against the counter, his arms crossed over his chest as he tried to put everything into perspective. “So, where did you get the injuries? I don’t think we ever got around to that.”
Her lips lifted in an attempted smile, but it looked rueful. “I had a dumb-luck run-in with the poacher.”
His heart clenched in his chest. “Again?”
“Yes.” She produced two orbs and filled them with blended loose-leaf tea she kept on her counter, clipping them shut to wait for the water. “I didn’t mean to, not at first, but when you left, I wasn’t thinking straight. I was confused, angry, feeling rejected. I assumed you had made the connection then. I was being immature about it. I’m the sensible one.” She glanced at him, a guilty expression that tore at him. “And I just wanted to die. Not so sensible anymore.”
The kettle whistle blew and she poured, letting her words sink in. He was constantly in a state of wonder around Selene. “I did have an idea that night, but it was such an incredible idea…”
She lifted a gentle hand to his mouth, silencing him with a tender touch. “It’s not necessary Bram. You know the truth and you’re still here. That means more to me right now than you have even guessed at yet,” she told him.
“How did you get so hurt? You had lost so much blood.” He remembered the condition he’d found her in and had to keep from dragging her into his hold, to never let go again. Instead he turned to see her more fully, trying to keep a restraint on his wants. He wanted answers first, or he’d never get them if he touched her.
“I was trying to circumvent, to get behind him. I’d stumbled on him laying bait, and before I knew it, I was leg deep in a trap.”
For the first time he caught a flicker of fear in her silver-gray gaze as she spoke. “I got out the only way I could. I’ve never been so careless, but if he saw me… I might as well be dead.”
A single tear tracked down her cheek and he felt his soul rip apart for her. He crushed her into his hold without a single arguable regret. “No. Don’t talk like that. Please.”
She buried her face into his shoulder and he felt her whole body shudder. He didn’t know what he was going to do, but there was no way a poacher was going to catch the wolf that had stolen his heart.
TEN
A week later, Selene had successfully returned to work, with nothing more than a smile and a dismissively described twisted ankle to dissuade any further questions about her limp. She was amazing, and his feelings were still growing.
After she’d been well enough to leave at
home alone, he’d returned to his quiet apartment and after five minutes discovered that he didn’t like it. There wasn’t anything wrong with it, not physically. What he didn’t like was not having her with him. In a little more than two days with her, just holding, touching and talking, he felt closer to her than he’d ever experienced, ever thought possible. Had ever wanted.
He was beginning to understand what Roman had been trying to say without giving up the family secret. Wolves mated for life. He was her mate, and he was starting to understand what that meant in his life. He’d been right to not make love to her, not yet, even though his entire body ached for her, craved her. It was a physical pull that drew him, deeper and tighter to her. He couldn’t help the little voice that sat on his shoulder, though, the cynical laugh that would remind him of Rebecca and the pain, the humiliation she had brought on him. In the name of love. Was it worth it? He was unwilling to answer it, not just yet. That accusing voice was the reason he couldn’t take Selene the way he wanted. Until he could give her everything she deserved, until he was able to be hers in every sense, he couldn’t shortchange either one of them. By the time he had his next full day off, she was back full throttle, running the little clinical hospital with ease. He still worried about her, and knew she still feared discovery. It was a problem that they would have to face. Whether he accepted what he felt or not, he knew he wasn’t going to let someone harm her. That was not an option.
What he found tacked to a pole early that morning was enough to make him see red. Someone had drawn a believable computerized color rendition of the pale wolf and had posted flyers. He found them everywhere.
Reward. Wild dog hybrid. Attacker. Dangerous to people.
He yanked one down and swallowed as he saw many, many more posted around town while he ran his errands. This new predicament sat like a rock in his gut as he tried to think it through, and of course, his day didn’t get any better.
Rebecca had found him. When he returned to his apartment, she’d left over ten messages trying to catch him. And as was her style, with each one she’d become increasingly peevish, more demanding. He groaned as he erased them all. He had tried so hard to leave that all behind him. He’d almost allowed himself to believe he had.
His life in Oregon was so much better. He had peace, a challenging position that didn’t push him to an early grave, and the beginnings of a relationship that he felt he was finally learning to cope with and not feel like he was a resident of the local padded room club.
He pulled the flyer from his pocket and tossed it on the table with an angry glare. Falling to his couch he rubbed his eyes as he tried to piece it all together. Selene was in danger. Did the poacher know what she was? Was it just the wolf he was after or had he discovered what they truly were? Were any of the others in danger? Who was this man who was hunting them?
She’d been shot twice, so he obviously had had a clear enough view to see her, and to make the drawing. The shots hadn’t been life threatening, but that could have been sheer luck. The next one could be a killing shot. He sat up straight with a sickening thought. What if he used a tranquilizer? He groaned again, collapsing backward. The shiver that traveled down his spine sent a shock throughout his system with the magnitude of his thoughts.
She would be helpless.
She was smart and he trusted her enough to keep herself out of danger, but he knew he wasn’t going to give her the option either. His concerns were shattered by the ringing of the phone. He stared at it for a numb second, praying it wasn’t Rebecca. Maybe he needed caller I.D. he thought as he reached for the phone.
“Benedetti.”
“Hey, you. When the hell were you planning on calling Mom? She’s been hounding me forever wanting to know where you’ve been.”
“Missed you too, Mitchell,” he laughed. “Sorry. I’ve had a really tied up week.” If you only knew.
“So, what’s going on back east?”
Mitchell took an excited breath. “You are never going to believe this, but are you sitting down?
Mom is dating!”
Bram sat up. “What? Our sweet, cuss-like-a-sailor mother is dating?”
“That’s the one. She’s got some architect wrapped around her finger, and she doesn’t cuss around him. She’s miss congeniality.”
“Holy cow!” Bram leaned back onto the arm of the couch. “Is she serious?” His brow pulled down a little with worry.
“I don’t know yet, but she’s having the time of her life. He’s been taking her all over town, introducing her to some really important people. She’s out every weekend and she never calls when she’s going to be late.”
“Is this what if feels like to raise kids?” Bram muttered with a wry touch of humor.
“I think it’s damn close. So, are you going to talk to her about it?”
“Hell no!” Bram drew a breath. “Mitchell, if she’s having a good time, and I don’t want to know what the definition of that is, and she’s happy, then let her be.”
“I was afraid you’d say that,” Mitchell said with a disappointed groan.
“Leave her alone, Mitch. She doesn’t need two grown sons ruining whatever is left of her life.” He frowned when he spotted the flyer again. That rock was still in his gut.
“Okay, but I did warn you.”
“Duly noted. Thanks. So, anything else going on to warn me about?” He listened with half an ear as Mitch talked about the Cardinals and the year’s lineup. They made tentative plans to get together for the holidays and check out their mother’s new beau. By the time he hung up, his frown had deepened. He just couldn’t repel the chill that had filled him when he had first found the flyer. He raked a hand down his face. How was he going to keep Selene from seeing it? They were all over town. He jumped when the phone rang again. He needed to see Selene, to touch her, to hold her. To know that she was fine. The second ring of the phone stopped him in mid planning.
“Benedetti,” he bit out, angry that someone had disturbed his wants to be halfway to her.
“Bram! I found you.” His mood deflated faster than a popped balloon.
“Hello, Rebecca. What do you want?” he asked with a barely concealed snarl.
“That’s not a nice greeting for a friend, is it?” she cooed.
He didn’t answer her. “What do you want? I was on my way out the door.”
“Always the busy man. Where were you going?”
“Why?” She had triggered his suspicions. She was being way too friendly.
“I thought you might like to meet for lunch. Just to talk.”
His eyes closed as his stomach churned. “You’re here?”
She giggled softly. “Of course, silly. I came by the hospital and this really nice blonde told me how to reach you.” She paused and he could almost hear the gears turning. Conniving bitch.
“You know, she was really nice, but I don’t think she likes me very much,” she pouted. He knew that would have grated on Rebecca. She believed everyone should like her. His hand clenched. “What did you say to her?”
Her voice was full of innocence. “I just introduced myself to her. What’s wrong with that?” she cooed again.
Suddenly he felt the world tilt under his feet. Rebecca was Mrs. Benedetti to everyone.
***
Selene sat in her office for hours after issuing a stunning command to not be disturbed. Priss had looked at her like she’d grown fangs, and maybe she had. She had a stack of reports and documents that needed her signature from her absence and it helped keep her mind off of Bram’s wife. His wife!
She snarled under her breath, cursing him as she signed another page. No wonder he hadn’t wanted to know her. At least she’d discovered he was faithful. She slashed another page as the thought brought no comfort.
Finding the raven haired, doe-eyed woman at Priss’s counter had been unexpected as she had calmly asked for Doctor Benedetti, and Selene being the kind and unsuspecting woman that she was, tried to help. Selene patted herself on the
back for her show of self-restraint when she’d introduced herself as Mrs. Benedetti, Bram’s estranged wife. Because she’d wanted to stake claim and bounce the interloping woman out on her ass, but instead she’d kept her smile plastered in place as her pressure rose a degree for every word the woman had spoken.
Oh, she’d been so disappointed to have missed him at the hospital, she’d said. He was such a dedicated doctor, she’d always known to look there first. Selene could only smile and nod as his wife had gone on and on and on.
She stabbed at another sheet. God, she sure could pick ‘em, and sweet Roman had gone and put ideas in Bram’s head. Personally she’d let Morgan tear him apart and just keep score. Morgan, nothing! She wanted to tear him apart.
“What?” she yelled at the door without looking up. She didn’t want to talk when a sharp knock stopped her ranting train.
“Selene?” The subject of her tirades poked his head in.
“I knew it was you. Where’s your wife?” she snapped. She refused to look up.
“I need to talk to you,” he stated.
“No you don’t. She painted it all very well. Just go to your office and do whatever you came to do. Or just go home. It’s your day off,” she reminded him, reaching for more papers. She bristled when he stepped in, ignoring her anger. He closed the door and locked it before she could order him out. “Selene, she’s not my wife. We’ve been divorced for over a year and a half.”
She laughed a derisive sound. “She doesn’t know that. Her story is you’re separated and talking reconciliation. Is that why you’ve kept a distance?” she demanded, anger and pain dripping from her words. “I trusted you, Bram.”
His eyes narrowed at the attack. “You did that of your own free will.”
She threw up her hands as she met his stare with a glare of her own. “Sorry, forgot. You’re just the innocent bystander to my life. I thought we were heading somewhere. I guess I was wrong. Go to hell!” She surged from behind her desk, needing to escape, but his arms captured her, stilling her attempt, if not her anger.
A Trust Earned Page 12
